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Fallen Wolf of the Cutting Sea
Motivation: Destroy the Silver Prince (primary), Earn Redemption (from Unhesitating Dedication) Caste: Midnight Anima Banner: a mournful wolf rises out of the cold silver-blue light and writhing shadows, lifting its emaciated head to howl silently at an uncaring sky. If the majority of Abyssals are not necessarily happy with the monsters they have become, most at least accept the fact. Not so the seafarer titled the Fallen Wolf of the Cutting Sea, whose forced exile from Skullstone is the only point of happiness in his otherwise tortured existence. It gives him hope he will find a way to return to the light and face the Bodhisattva armed with the Unconquered Sun’s holy fury. Such dreams are little more than idle fantasy at this point, however, because he remains caged by the twin prisons of his Monstrance and the doom of the Neverborn on his soul. Once, Fallen Wolf was Jalyn Korfos, ambassadorial aide and junior spy for Wavecrest to the city of Onyx. He was great even if his own nation did’nt know his greatness, a man of principle who put duty ahead of self-advancement. In short, he was a hero, and as a hero, the light of the Unconquered Sun found him even in the darkness of Skullstone with a commandment “Accept no compromise with the unrighteous!” Jalyn heeded these words and destroyed the nemissary with whom he was negotiating and fought bravely to the docks in hopes of escaping and warning Wavecrest of the true evil of its neighbor. His efforts were insufficient to stop the Silver Prince’s forces from capturing him mere steps from his ship and dragging him before the Deathlord. He spit at the feet of Skullstone’s liege and swore holy vengeance before his undead jailors threw him into a Monstrance of Celestial Portion forged just for him. Jalyn lingered for days in darkness, his Essence extinguished and unable to reignite even the dimmest spark to hold back the gloom. The Silver Prince visited him, taunted him, read him gospels of the Neverborn and even told him some of his secrets to make it perfectly clear that Jalyn would kneel in absolute submission or die. Between the sermons, cajoling and confessional whispers, the Deathlord visited all manner of torments on him. Each visit, Jalyn spit between the bars of his cage. As the days wore on, however, the relentless torture eroded even Jalyn’s great will. When the Whispers of the Neverborn spoke to him in a dry rasping demand to “Take the power, for even the Silver Prince must fall in time,” the Zenith finally surrendered to darkness, and his fair visage aged many decades in the heartbeat that followed. The Silver Prince named his new vassal Fallen Wolf of the Cutting Sea, mocking the now-withered anima of a wolf he inherited from the First Age Solar who last bore his Exaltation. The new deathknight served with only the greatest reluctance, but a combination of Charms and threats against his Monstrance kept him in line when it counted, and his feeble resistance in less urgent situations amused the Bodhisattva in less critical moments for a while. Such amusement wore thin with time, though, especially after Fallen Wolf pulled back from a naval battle with enemy gods at a key moment to let the Dusk Caste Ebon Siaka get beaten within an inch of her life. Fallen Wolf had only been ordered not to strike her himself, after all. This was the last straw. The Silver Prince exiled the wayward deathknight from his islands with only his single zombie-crewed ship, his personal weapons, provisions for a month and a stern commandment never to return without permission. Even this mercy was more than the Deathlord wanted to give, but his Neverborn master quietly warned that it was not yet time for the deathknight to die, ending all discussion. Since his exile, the Fallen Wolf of the Cutting Sea has wandered the West aimlessly, spending as much time as possible at sea to prevent his Dark Fate from blighting the lands where he steps ashore. The Silver Prince has stated he is on indefinite assignment as an “ambassador of goodwill” to the West and a champion of righteous ancestor ghosts. That Fallen Wolf is neither does not warm the welcome he finds from those who have heard these rumors. When provisions run low or the need for companionship besides the Whispers in his head grows overwhelming, Fallen Wolf finds port and fights as an antiheroic crusader against demons, raksha, cruel gods and mortal villains, doing his best to be a hero in spite of the hideous miracles the Neverborn unleash to undo his labors. Every so often, the Silver Prince appears in visions to check in with him and offer a full pardon if only he will accept his proper place at the side of darkness. These visions always end with Fallen Wolf spitting on the deck. The deathknight’s latest idea is to find other Abyssals who would dare rebel and gather them into a fighting force mighty enough to raid their lieges’ citadels and destroy the Monstrances that chain their souls. He believes that his recently discovered power to access Solar Charms is a sign from the Unconquered Sun that he may yet walk in light once more.